As anyone who’s ever prepared a household budget can attest, distinguishing between wants and needs can be difficult. But imagine trying to prepare a budget knowing that a rather large bill may or may not come due next month. Choosing quickly becomes a lot more complicated. The Asheville City Council also has to prepare a […]
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The boss
photo courtesy of the city of Asheville Iron and silk: Weldon Weir, Asheville’s most famous city manager, kept his door open to residents in need — and an iron grip on their politics. His party machine is gone now, but the city manager is still the most powerful official in Asheville. When incoming City Manager […]
From steamrolling to bridge building
“‘Road-roller’ methods were employed by the city council in the Rigsby election,” the Asheville Citizen observed back in 1931. The city’s influential unions complained that R.W. Rigsby, Asheville’s very first full-time city manager, had acquired a reputation for being unfair to organized labor while serving as Charlotte’s chief executive. Council, however, ignored labor leaders’ pleas […]
Letters to the editor
Legislators and water don’t mix Recently, progressives met together to tell government what they wanted out of a water agreement. The room was abuzz with anger when people learned how Buncombe County had been conspiring with developers and the North Carolina General Assembly to write legislation (Sullivan Acts II and III) that would make Asheville’s […]
By the time they understand
“Lonely,” a fiber collage by Mary Lounsbury, is one of the more thoughtful pieces in Works with Words. The maze of rooms at Grovewood Gallery are filled with chatty tourists buying scarves, mugs, walking sticks, goblets, and wind chimes. But one corner of the cottage resounds with words trying harder. Messages: Works With Words features […]
Cartoons
A castle in your garden
Whether you garden for food, beauty or the connection with the wider world that you get from ripping out weeds and conspiring to bring about the early demise of tiny creatures, it’s not just about plants, is it? Perhaps you also long for a few essential things — structures large and small — that can […]
Earful
Skeletons in the jukebox “Skeletons” provides a forum for local musicians, artists, record-store owners, etc., to erase cool points by expressing their unseemly affection for an unhip album from their past. • Alabama, Closer You Get, by Laura Blackley “Pique-polo shirts, Panama hats, muscle tees, and mullets adorn the bright and cheery pastel cover. It […]
Cartoons
The gardener’s workout
When it was first suggested that I write an article about exercise, physical fitness and the health benefits of gardening, I didn’t find the idea at all appealing. Setting goals, committing to a routine, and getting your doctor’s approval before embarking on a fitness regimen is all very good and important advice, of course; but […]
In their own words
Rep. Charles Taylor‘s name has been all over the newspapers lately. But chances are, most of his constituents haven’t seen these articles, because they’re appearing in New York papers. That makes perfect sense, given that Taylor’s latest legislative initiative could have a significant impact on that state’s Hudson River — one of the most polluted […]
Water pressure
With two weeks remaining before the Water Agreement expires on June 30, Asheville finds itself in a bind. Convinced that the county and the local legislative delegation in Raleigh are working together to push the city to transfer its water assets to the Metropolitan Sewerage District (or perhaps a new regional water authority), Asheville faces […]
Letters to the editor
Where’s the representation? Dr. Mumpower is correct in “staying the course” on the water issue. The city of Asheville is now in the process of being raped by our county and state officials. Our residents will cross political lines in order to correct this injustice! There has been no parity or equality in this process. […]
Letters to the editor
Inmate received appropriate care In the article “High Pressure Zone” [May 18 Xpress], I am singled out for attention regarding my treatment of an inmate in Swain Recovery Center and the Buncombe County Detention Facility. The allegation of the former inmate and the implication of the reporter is that I withheld needed treatment from the […]
Taking a hard look in history’s mirror
“This one is not going to be controversial like the others.” My friend was talking about the next selection for UNC-Chapel Hill’s summer-reading program, Blood Done Sign My Name by Tim Tyson. The summer before classes begin, the university asks all of its incoming students to read the same book. Then, during orientation, the students […]
The Montford dog burglar strikes again… and again… and again…
The day after last year’s tragic presidential election, I walked into Viva Europa on Montford Avenue and was immediately accosted by another customer who waved a map in my face. “See!” he yelled, pointing at the mass of Republican states covering the nation. “People want Bush! That’s the scary thing!” And some hippies sitting at […]
Over the rainbow
“Is this, in our country, a great time to be alive?” So goes one of the questions posed by teachers Gary Pisano and Michael Reardon in Elementary Hues and Residues, an installation at Artemisia Gallery. They hang over our heads like Damocles’ sword! Those bands of color: blue, green, yellow, orange, and the dreaded RED. […]
Preservation before breakfast
If the Bluff Mountain Festival ever claims an icon, it should be Roger Howell. Both the festival and the person are long-time champions of preservation. The former began 10 years ago in Hot Springs as a grassroots effort to save Bluff Mountain from logging. The first three years raised $6,000 for the Bluff Mountain Defense […]
Cartoons
Out of reach
Unschooled, but don’t be fooled: A painting and drawing, both untitled, by the eminently influenced Karl Mullen. If art is a record of the times, Karl Mullen’s impotent, armless figures will tell future generations who we were as a nation in the year 2005. But they don’t shed much light on the subject of so-called […]
Portrait of the inventor as a humanist
Robert Moog’s invention of the modern synthesizer, now common in contemporary music, brought him respect and admiration from electronic-music enthusiasts the world over — and a deep personal satisfaction. However, Moog, a documentary film by director Hans Fjellestad released on DVD May 31, illustrates the story of a man largely unrecognized by fans of music […]